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Trade talk in Miami heating up Another point guard, Rice could be headed to Florida
Posted: Tuesday January 04, 2000 09:01 AM
NBA insider Stephen A. Smith of The Phildelphia Inquirer recently spoke with CNN/Sports Illustrated anchor Larry Smith about the week's comings and goings in the NBA. Larry Smith : There are reports that the Miami Heat are searching for another point guard. Is Tim Hardaway's health that much of a concern? Stephen A. Smith : Definitely, it is a great concern to Miami. Tim Hardaway was hurt all last season and, to his credit, he played and played admirably through the injury. However, he shot only 26 percent from the field in the first-round series against the Knicks. He averaged only nine points a game in that playoff series - he's a career 20-points-per-game scorer in the playoffs. And so he is looking at the situation and saying, "Hey, wait a minute. I don't want a duplicate performance of what happened last season, so I am going to sit out as long as I possibly can." Miami, on the other hand, is saying, "Wait a minute, we need you; we need somebody to play, a point guard we can rely on, other than Anthony Carter." So they are out there shopping right now and you can't blame them. Larry Smith : There is also some talk about a deal involving Miami and former Heat player Glen Rice. What mechanisms are in place to make that happen? Stephen A. Smith : Well, the mechanisms that are in place are Arn Tellem. He's the agent for Tracy McGrady and he wants Tracy McGrady in Los Angeles and he has talked to the Toronto Raptors about getting McGrady to L.A. And that way L.A. would send Glen Rice to Toronto and Toronto would in turn send him to Miami. And to make the three-team deal work, Miami would then send Mark Strickland and Jamal Mashburn to the Raptors. Butch Carter and Glen Grunwald have no interest whatsoever in Mark Strickland and Jamal Mashburn so they have basically nixed Arn Tellem's dream, but he is still trying. He wants McGrady in L.A. and that's where he is saying McGrady will be come this summer. Larry Smith : Isaiah Rider claims his team gave up in their recent loss to the Indiana Pacers. But, Stephen, I was at that game and it was Rider who stopped playing defense. His man, Reggie Miller, scored 19 points in the third quarter alone. Has Rider lost it again? Stephen A. Smith : I mean it obviously looks that way, Larry. It looks like he's lost it again, but keep in mind that the Atlanta Hawks aren't exactly members of the NBA elite. These guys have underachieved for years and years and years and even when they had Steve Smith, Mookie Blaylock and now Dikembe Mutombo, they haven't produced. J.R. Rider is watching his team get blown out by the Detroit Pistons and they're on the bench laughing and giggling like it is nobody's business, that everything is okay. So that's what he was pointing out. So you can take it either way: you can say that he lost it again, but then again he may have a point with what he said. Larry Smith : But then Rider goes and misses the team plane. Is that cowardliness on his part or is he trying to make a stance? Stephen A. Smith : I think it's immaturity more than anything else. He has a responsibility as a professional athlete to be on time, to show up, to come to work ready to work and he didn't do that. My sources tell me on numerous occasions that he has walked on the plane and said, "The heck with it. I don't feel like traveling with you guys." This babysitting thing that is going on, the Atlanta Hawks are simply getting tired of this. Remember, he is in a negotiating year of his contract, he is a free agent at the end of this season. He is really minimizing his marketability with each passing day. Larry Smith : With Frank Layden gone from the Jazz front office, what does this mean to the Utah franchise and its future? Stephen A. Smith : Well, what it means is a new leadership is completely in order. Scott Layden took the GM job with the Knicks now his father is retired from the Jazz, that means that the guy that owner Larry Miller is relying on is Kevin O'Connor the former player/personnel director in Philadelphia. He's fully capable of doing a credible job, a more-than-credible job in Utah. The problem is that he has an age-old team: Karl Malone isn't going anywhere, John Stockton is about to retire in a season or two, Jeff Hornacek is through after this season. Basically, he doesn't have anyone else except for Byron Russell. You don't have anybody on Utah that anybody else wants other than Karl Malone and you are not going to let him go. So O'Connor is pretty strapped right now. He has a difficult job ahead of him, but I think he is up for the challenge. Larry Smith : Bad times have gone worse in Golden State. P.J. Carlesimo was fired, general manager Garry St. Jean takes over as coach. Is he the answer for the Warriors? Stephen A. Smith : Well, he seems to think he is. I talked to Garry earlier this week and he told me this is not an interim situation, he is here for the duration. He wants to coach this team, he is looking forward to coaching this team beyond this season and that's why he thought it was time for a change. Obviously, there was some friction between the players and Carlesimo. Garry St. Jean is a very comical guy, he is really hilarious, and the players are loose because of him. They like him as a person and they like him as their coach, so we will see what happens. Larry Smith : So first coach Paul Westphal has a falling out with Gary Payton, now he's at odds with Vin Baker and he had a run-in with Ruben Patterson. What does this do to his future with the Sonics? Stephen A. Smith : I think Paul Westphal needs to be very, very careful. He definitely has the support of general manager Wally Walker. But Westphal does not preach defense, therefore you do not see the Sonics pressuring the basketball. You don't see them making things happen and because of this, that is why they have been struggling against big teams this season. They are not getting the job done. He's got Vin Baker on his bad side, Ruben Patterson is upset with him now, and Gary Payton has just suffered the first five-game losing streak of his career and he's livid about the situation in Seattle. So Paul Westphal better be careful because Gary Payton is really the man in that town and he may want out. And if he wants out, where does Seattle go from there? Stephen A. Smith covers the NBA for the Philadelphia Inquirer and is a regular contributor to CNN/SI.
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